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Music Views
Musical Activities for Preschool Children––Part 2 of 5
by PKelly on May 12, 2005
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Part 2––Moving to Music
In Part 1 of this article about finding musical activities for preschoolers I described using the natural sounds around us to stimulate the senses and get kids really listening. In mimicking those sounds, their pitch and rhythms, kids start to hear music in nature. Whether they then hear a pop song on the radio or a symphony in the concert hall they’ll now have a framework for listening to those sounds.
In Part 2 I’d like to take this exercise a step further and concentrate on rhythm alone. This time, though, we’ll get the body involved.
WHY?
Contemporary studies have shown a profound connection between rhythm and. . .
movement. Think of experiencing rhythm as the flow of our movement through space. From a developmental viewpoint, your kids have to experience rhythm in their bodies before they can successfully process rhythm in their minds.
For this reason the preschool years are essential for using the body as a musical instrument. This will help them to develop their inner rhythmical abilities as well as the outer ones. A musical instrument then will merely be an extension of what children are capable of rhythmically and musically with their own bodies.
Research by respected motor theorists has found that the most basic motor patterns emerge before the age of 5 and are merely strengthened beyond that age (Gilbert, 1979).
Movement pedagogy specialist Phyllis Weikart has said that many school-age kids can’t walk to the beat of music or describe to their teachers what movements their bodies have just made. This is all the more reason to be providing exercises to strengthen these abilities at the preschool stage.
EXERCISE 1
Put some music on your CD or tape player, preferably something that is in 4/4 meter. Most pop music and rock ‘n roll is written in 4/4 meter. Start by counting “1,2,3,4” along with the music and have your child do the same. Once you’ve both established the tempo or speed of the music tap it out together on a tabletop or percussion instrument, if you happen to have one. “1,2,3,4--1,2,3,4” etc.
Now get up and try walking to it together along the floor. Find a room with enough space and try to repeat the “1,2,3,4” pattern twice. So, “1,2,3,4—1,2,3,4” in a straight line, keeping in time with the music. Walk side by side with your child.
When you get to the end of this second pattern make a sharp right turn and continue on in that direction. Count another full 8 beats (“1,2,3,4--1,2,3,4”), and make another right turn and so on until you’re back where you started. You should now have walked a square pattern in your room.
EXERCISE 2
Once you’re both comfortable with this make it a bit more complicated by stepping only on beats 1 and 3. Keep counting out loud the "1,2,3,4," but only step on beats 1 and 3. Make the square pattern as in Exercise 1.
EXERCISE 3
This one's tricky. Take it one step further now by only stepping on beats 1 and 4. Keep the “1,2,3,4” count but only step on beats 1 and 4. Again, use the square pattern.
You’d be surprised at how many preschool children (and their parents!) will find this difficult at first!
Some gentle persistence with this exercise will pay big dividends, though. It can really help prepare your child for that first experience with a musical instrument!
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